Draft-gear for railway-cars.



J. F. O'CONNOR. DRAFT GEAR FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION man rss. s. |913.

J. F., OCONNOR.

DRAFT GEAR FOR RA|LWAY CARS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3, I9I3. 129%@910 Patented July 27, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- a'a e's a4 tlNltTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN F. OCONNOR, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS` ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM H. MINER, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DRAFT-GEAR FOR RAILWAY-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1.9 15.

Application fled February 3. 1913. Serial No. 745.800.

T0 HZ/ rl/om if muy confer/i vie it known that l. Joux F. ()`Coxxon. a citizen of the Vnited States. residing at Chicago. in the county of Cook and State of Illinois. have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Draft-Gears for lhiilway-(nrs. of which the following is a full. clear. concise. and exact description. reference being had to the accompanying drawings. forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in draft gears for railway ears. and more particularly to draft gears employing both spring and friction compression resisting elements.

The object of my invention is to provide a compact draft gear of high shock absorbing ealnicity.

ln the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in longitudinal section on line 1 1 of Fig. 2 of a railway draft rigging` embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view partly in longitudinal horizontal section on line .2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the draft gear partly in longitudinal section showing the parts compressed. Fig. l is a cross section on line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the gear. Fig. is a perspective view of the movable spring pocket.

Referring to the drawings T. 7 represent draft sills or parts of the car frame to which the draft rigging is attached, 8, S front stop members having the stop shoulders El. 9. and 10 the rear stop member having the stop shoulders 11. l1. All stop members are suitably secured to the draft sills, and the rear vstop member is preferably in one piece. having in its forward faee a recess 12 to afford room for the rear end 13 of the yoke 14. The draft yoke is suitably secured to the draw bar 15 by the coupler key 1G. The end sill 17. draw bar Carry iron 1S. front follower l) and draft gear supporting plate Q0 with the parts hereinbefore described are of well known construction.

The draft gear or compression resisting member 21 comprises with'the contained parts hereinafter described a shell 22. preferably of a general rectangular shape, having a central longitudinal friction chamber Q3. and adjacent thereto a plurality of spring pockets 2l, 24 of fixed position in relation to the friction chamber. Preferably these spring pockets are two in number. arranged one on either side of the Vfriction chamber. and substantially parallel thereto. lach tixed spring pocket is preferably open at the forward end 25. The rear end 24' of each of said spring pockets is provided with a shoulder 2T forming a seat for the rear end of the spring members 2h contained within the pocket. Preferably the shoulder )T is formed by the plate 2f?. which closes the rear end of the. pocket. the said plate having a perforation i5() for the passage of a bolt ill. Fach of said fixed spring pockets is provided with a washer or n'iovable spring seat 3;?. through which the. bolt Bl passes. and against which the head 523 thereof engages. The spring members. which preferably comprise an outer spring 5:33 and an inner spring 34 nested therein, are seated at their forward ends against the movable spring seat 3Q.

The friction chamber Q3 of the shell is preferably 'ylindrical in shape. and is open at both ends. Yithin the same are they fric tion members 54 comprising friction shoes 55. which are preferablv three in number. and which are adapted to frictionally engage the internal friction face 35 of the friction chamber. The wedge 36 is adapted to spread the friction shoes. Between each of the wedge faces 3T of the wedge and the. inner wedge face 5G of the adjacent friction shoe is interposed an antifriction roller 38. The wedge 3G engages the front follower 19 in the reciprocating movements of the gear.

lVithin the shell Q2 is arranged a movable spring pocket 39. which is provided with a hollow member 40. open at its forward end 41 and closed at its rear end l2. and adapted to enter rearwardly the friction chamber 23. Vithin the movable spring pocket are spring members 43. seated at their forward ends against the friction shoes and at their rear ends against the closed end of the movable spring pocket. and preferably comprising an inner and outer spring 4t and -15 respectively. Extended outwardly from the hollow member 40 and preferably integral therewith are the arms 46, 46, preferably two in number, there being one for each fixed spring pocket. Each arm is adapted to receive through it the rear end of a bolt 31 extended rearwardly from the adjacent fixed spring pocket. Eachl bolt 31 is provided with the nut 47.

The spring members of the fixed spring pockets are preferably of greater capacity than the spring members within the movable spring pocket. In the form of my invention illustrated in the drawings having two fixed spring pockets the capacity of the spring members within each fixed spring pocket is preferably greater than the capacity of the ,spring members within the movable spring pocket.

In normal position of the parts of the gear, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and the arms 1G, 1G of the movable spring pocket engage the rear ends of the fixed spring pockets. By means of the bolts 31 the spring members within the fixed spring pockets may be placed and -held under an initial compression. The hollow member i0 of the movable spring pocket ,39 :forwardly form the armsl 1G, 10, and the spring members therein are of suitable lengths to permit substantially full compression of the spring members within the movable spring pocket, upon which compression the rear ends 48 of the friction shoes 35 will engage the front end all of the movable spring pocket.

The friction members and the spring members are held together by the connecting rod 19, the head of which is received within the recess 50 of the wedge, and the nut of which engages the outer face of the rear end QG of the movable spring pockets. IVithin the shell and rearwardly of the fixed spring pockets is the space 51 of suitable length to permit the movement of the movable spring pocket therein on full compression of the gear.

On rearward movement of the draw-bar the rear end 52 of the shell Q2 engages the rear stops. the friction members in frictional action move inwardly, compressing the spring members lf3 within the movable spring pocket 39 until the friction shoes engage the forward end of the spring pocket, which through such engagement is moved rearwardly. IIpon the rearward movement of the spring` pocket 39 the spring members QS within the fixed spring pockets '2-1, 21 are each through the arms 46, 1G and the bolts 31 compressed between the movable spring seat 32 and the rear end of the fixed spring pocket, thus furnishing a high compression resisting capacity, and one which increases at a rapidly increasing ratio toward the end of the bufiing movement of the gear. The relative position of the parts of the gear when in full compression is illustrated by Fig. 3 ofthe drawings.

It will be apparent that the comparatively heavy spring members afford an easy and certain release action of the parts. On forward movement of the draw bar the front follower 19 engages the front stop members while the draft yoke moves the shell forward, bringing the friction members within the friction chamber and the spring members within the movable spring chamber into action, while the spring members within each fixed spring pocket are compressed against the washer 3:2, it serving as a stop or seat for the spring member through its engagement against the head 53 of the bolt 31, which in said forward movement engages the front follower. In preferable construction the bolt heads 53 when thel gear is in normal position, as illustrated in Fig. Q, are substantially the same distance from the front follower 19 as the forward end of the movable spring pocket is from the ends of the friction shoes so that the engagement between the said bolt heads and the front follower does not occur upon the initial forward movement of the gear.

I claim 1. In a draft gear, in combination, a fric tion chamber, spring chambers adjacentv thereto, friction mechanism within the friction chamber, springs within the spring chambers, a movable spring chamber connected to said springs, springs within the movable spring chamber, the said springs being adapted to compress on initial movement of the friction mechanism, the further movement of friction mechanism being transmitted to the springs first mentioned.

' 2. In a draft gear, a shell, friction mechanism within the shell, a movable spring chamber, springs within the same, said springs being in engagement with the friction mechanism, springs without the shell, and means connecting said last mentioned springs to the movable spring chamber, the springs within the movable spring chamber being adapted to oppose the movement of the friction mechanism for a limited distance.

3. In a draft rigging of the character described, the combination with a movable shell having a friction chamber and spring chambers on the sides thereof and all arranged parallelly, of springs in said spring chambers, friction devices in the friction chamber, springs for resisting initial movement of the friction devices, and means between the friction devices and the first named springs operating to compress the latter upon continued movement of the friction devices.

J OHN F. OCONNUR.

Witnesses:

ELEANOR' L. NASH, JOHN'A. MARTINKUS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ,ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, D. C." 

